The article deals with a hoax regarded as a plot motif with the meaning of a successful attempt to make a fool of a simpleton in a short story “The Pimienta Pancakes” by O. Henry. Additional components of a typical communicative act “hoax” are described. They include an embedded story, reduction to absurdity, participation of other characters in a hoax as manipulator’s instruments.
Keywords: plot motif, manipulation, character, narrative, hoax.

The article presents theoretical and practical grounds for the use of an experimental technique (that of visualization) in studying mental structures via the analysis of visual associations received from native speakers as reactions to the word stimulus. The study is aimed at providing new knowledge about the mental representations which are activated by verbs of movement but not fully represented in language structures. To illustrate theoretical statements, the analysis of visualizations of the Russian verb “idti” (to walk) is given. The prospects of applying the new technique in a variety of further studies are also outlined.
Keywords: language representation, mental representation, verbs of movement, visualization, experiment, picture database.

The article discusses three theoretical concepts of sociolinguistics crucial for second language learning such as identity, investment and power relations. First of all, L2 learner’s identity is examined as a key construct from different perspectives in second language learning. Secondly, investment in the context of L2 learning is analyzed as it is seeking to make a meaningful connection between a learner’s desire, commitment and actualization of this desire to learn a language. Finally, the role of status is explained.
Keywords: sociolinguistics, second language learning, identity, investment, power relations

In the present article we consider the issue of productivity of the transformation of adjectives of no-qualitative semantics (relative and possessive) into qualitative ones, exemplified by the texts of M. Tsvetaeva; a conclusion is drawn about a rich semantic repertoire of epithets that have acquired qualitative semantics; we focuse on the semantic increments of the word-epithet, as well as on the frequency of occasional use of epithets in Tsvetaeva's texts, which reflects the author's view of the world and the features of her idiolect and idiostyle. The article is part of a series of works on the theory of epithets.
Key words: epithet, Marina Tsvetaeva, stylistic effect, adjective of qualitative and no-qualitative semantics.

The article reviews a group of social neologisms. The author describes functions of transnominations formed under the influence of social factors.
Keywords: social neologism, transnomination, euphemism.

The article gives a review of hypertext on a news site as a type of mass media widespread in the modern world, providing a brief history of the appearance of hypertext on the Internet. We analyze The Guardian news site, highlighting its differences and similarities in comparison with traditional media, and pointing at a number of advantages of the electronic periodical.
Keywords: hypertext, Internet, website, hypertextuality, hypermedia, hyperlink, media, The Guardian.

The article is devoted to the study of folk signs and beliefs, which are included in the texts of literary works by E.I. Nosov. Based on observations, memorization of various correlations in the environment, tested over the course of hundreds of years, signs and beliefs retain the status of people's predictions about the future up to these days.
Keywords: sign, omen, belief, artistic text, E.I. Nosov.

The article is devoted to the research of modern media re-naming process. The main reasons for media re-naming are discussed. The paper analyses the role of the primary name in the process of media re-naming.
Keywords: media nomination, commercial nomination, naming, re-naming, media naming, primary name.

The article deals with the metaphor which is a cognitive mechanism that stores information about the culture of people and their worldview. The results of corpus analysis and semantic analysis of lexemes which have metaphorical meanings show the linguistic and linguocultural features of Russian and English metaphors.
Keywords: metaphor, corpus analysis, semantic analysis, linguoculturology, national identity.

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the articles functioning in non-related languages on the basis of parallel texts (translations of the chapters of the novel by M. Bulgakov into English and French). The description of the system of articles is based on their ability to indicate the type of noun reference.
Keywords: article, contrast analysis, article invariant, noun reference, referential choice, parallel texts, non-related languages.

The article deals with the specificity of coding of images about human being by means of zoomorphic code of culture in Hindi and Russian linguocultures. The images of a dog, a pig, a fox, a wolf, a cow, an ass, a rat are subjected to a comparative analysis. The cultural specificity of the semiosis of human qualities is manifested in the selection of the target of nomination and figurative representation. The Russian and the Indian linguocultures use a different set of quasi-stereotypes. The Russian bestiary numerically exceeds the Indian, which finds its explanation in the uniqueness of the way of life of the Indians. In the linguoculture of Hindi, the mythological and literary traditions have a special influence, which causes a greater number of positively interpreted biomorphic images, whereas the Russian linguoculture is based on the routine day-today observations of animals.
Keywords: Russian language, Hindi, culture, quasi standard, zoomorphic code, person

This article is about the representation of narcomania as an antivalue through the belles-lettres of Russian and foreign writers. The novels analyzed in this article show the influence of drugs on people and make readers reflect and go over their lives. They show the physical and psychological collapse of a person, the collapse of moral values and the system of moral estimation of one’s actions.
Keywords: antivalue, narcomania, appraisement, Russian and foreign belles-lettres, hero’s conscience.

The article is devoted to the results of comparative-typological studies of the nature of the reduced vowels of Russian and Japanese languages, as well as to the characteristics of the manifestation of Russian-Japanese interference at the level of speech perception. The analysis was subjected to phonetic errors, which are committed by Japanese students in the pronunciation of unstressed vowels of Russian.
Keywords: comparative and typological analysis, phonetic interference, foreign accent, Russian phonetics, Japanese phonetics, reduced vowels.

In this article a morpheme is studied as a language unit with its meaning, verbalizing such a specific fragment of the language view of the world as «integration of objects», the parameters of which are also put forward. This approach to the description of semantics of the morpheme is stipulated by its relational possibilities as the element between the agents of the scene, as well as by its universal characteristics to reflect the thought and to form the type of a language. It is defined that concrete formants actualizing the scene of «integration of objects» are the English preposition to, the French preposition à, the Russian prefix pri- and Uzbek affix -ga.
Keywords: morpheme, relator, typology, universal, integration, unity

The article aims at a comparative study of transferred meanings within СВИНЬЯ and PIG lexemes. Phrase-based idioms, sentence-like proverbs as well as definitions taken from Russian and English monolingual dictionaries serve the empirical basis for revealing secondary meanings of the mentioned words along with their contextually triggered transferred meanings. The author concludes that there are a number of discrepancies between the found senses and the level of their transferability in both languages in focus.
Keywords: idioms, linguistic comparative study, onomasiological approach, fixators of meaning, nominators of meaning.